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Become A Real Estate Agent In Texas
Article Summary: This article will help anyone looking for information pertaining to a real estate license in the state of Texas or anyone looking to become a real estate agent or realtor in Texas. Contents of this article may include information on real estate education, schools, training courses, continuing education, tests and exams, laws, license requirements, renewal information, forms and more.
The mission of the Texas
Real Estate Commission is to assist and protect consumers of real estate services,
thereby fostering economic growth within the state. The Commissions main office
is in Austin.
The requirements for a real estate salesperson license in Texas
include completing the required real estate education courses. If applying for
the salesperson license prior to January 1, 2006, the applicant needs to have
successfully completed at least 180 classroom hours of approved courses. If applying
for the license after January 1, 2006 the salesperson applicant needs to successfully
complete at least 210 classroom hours of approved courses. All applicants must
pass the real estate examinations and apply for their license within six months
of passing. All salesperson applicants must be sponsored by an active Texas real
estate broker. An inactive license will be issued until the applicant obtains
a sponsor.
The requirements for a real estate broker license in Texas include
having at least two years of active experience as a licensed real estate salesperson
or broker during the preceding 96 months. Or, if licensed as a broker in another
state, the applicant needs to have not less than two years of active experience
as a salesperson or broker during the 36 month period immediately preceding filing
the application. Broker applicants need to have successfully completed 270 classroom
hours of approved core real estate courses, and an additional 630 classroom hours
in acceptable related courses. All broker applicants must pass the real estate
examinations and apply for their license within six months of passing the exams.
The requirements for all applicants for a real estate agent license in
Texas include being at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States or
a lawfully admitted alien, and a legal resident of Texas. If the broker applicant
is a resident of another state, the applicant must be licensed as a real estate
broker in that state. All applicants must obtain an education evaluation of the
courses taken. The evaluation is valid for one year and the fee for it is $20.00.
The evaluation needs to be completed before the applicants file their application
for a license. Texas law prohibits issuing a license to anyone who has defaulted
on a student loan guaranteed by the Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation
(TGSLC)
unless the applicant has entered into a repayment agreement with TGSLC. The filing
of a real estate license application authorizes the Commission to do an investigation
of the applicant’s background.
The Salesperson
Annual Education Requirements (SAE) for those licensees applying prior to
January 1, 2006, include successful completion of 18 semester hours (270 classroom)
hours of approved education courses by the end of their third year of licensure.
Fourteen semester hours (210 classroom hours) of the SAE must be core courses.
These courses must be taken over the period of the license, with at least 2 semester
hours (30 classroom) hours successfully completed during each annual renewal period.
Salespersons applying after January 1, 2006 must complete the same total number of hours, but the hours must be
completed by the end of the first year of licensure. The salesperson must file at least 4 semester hours (60 classroom)
as a condition of the first renewal. Core courses may not be repeated within a 3-year time frame.
Once real estate salespersons have completed the SAE requirements, they need to
complete the Mandatory
Continuing Education (MCE) for each renewal period. The MCE consists of six
classroom hours of legal ethics and legal update courses. The laws affecting the
MCE changed effective January 1, 2005. Inactive licensees are not required to
complete the Mandatory Continuing Education courses.
You can locate the approved core
real estate education schools, and the Mandatory Continued Education Schools online.
The real estate examinations are administered by PSI, a professional examination
company.
A complete listing of license
fees is online. The original license application fee for a salesperson is
$69.50, plus a one-time fee of $10.00 for the Real Estate Recovery Fund. When
converting from a broker license to salesperson license the fee is $67.50. The
original license application fee for a broker is $300.00, plus the one-time $10.00
Real Estate Recovery Fund Fee if it has not already been paid.
All Texas real estate licenses may be renewed online. The fee for renewing a salesperson
license where the applicant needs SAE is $51.00. If the applicant needs mandatory
continuing education, the renewal fee for a salesperson license is $102.00. An
inactive salesperson renewal, not needing the continuing education, is $102.00.
The renewal fee for a broker license, whether or not the continuing education
is needed, is $511.00.
Late fee for renewing a salesperson license is $67.50, and the late fee for renewing a broker license is $300.00.
These late fees are in addition to the regular renewal fees.
Texas does not have reciprocity agreements with any other states. To become licensed in Texas,
all applicants need to meet the current Texas licensing requirements.
Real estate careers are strengthened by membership in the many organizations that
provide services for the professional agent. Organizations like the Texas
Association of Realtors and the National Association of Real Estate Brokers
(NAREB) assist many in locating
real estate jobs within the industry. The Association of Real Estate License
Law Officials (ARELLO) and
The National Association of Realtors (NAR),
the world’s largest professional association, are excellent resources for real
estate education and professional enrichment.
This portion of our website has been created for information purposes
only. It is our belief that all information presented here is accurate
as of today, however each state is constantly striving to protect
the public and provide more quality service to those using the services
of a Real Estate Agent. Change in Real Estate laws and regulations
is inevitable. The information presented here should be considered
a starting point and we encourage everyone to fully research any
information you are seeking.
To further assist you, we have included links to each state's
real estate licensing office, and also to the state's local Association
of Realtors site that provides current information on proposed real
estate license regulations in that area.
If you do find an error or have updated information, please contact
us and we will update our information accordingly.
